Citation

Becker HS. Am. J. Sociol. 1953; 59(3): 235-242.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1953, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/221326

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An individual will be able to use marijuana for pleasure only when he 1. learns to smoke it in a way that will produce real effects; 2. learns to recognize the effects and connect them with drug use; and 3. learns to enjoy the sensations he perceives. This proposition, based on an analysis of fifty interviews with marijuana users, calls into question theories which ascribe behavior to antecedent predispositions and suggests the utility of explaining behavior in terms of the emergence of motives and dispositions in the course of experience.